Dee Dee Myers

Truthfully I wanted to read this book because I had heard that they had based C.J. Cregg's (The West Wing) on Dee Dee Myers. I actually enjoyed the book a lot more than I thought I would have. An excellent book that integrated a lot of other books and research on the topic into one book. While I will admit that there were some parts that were really boring to read, overall I did enjoy the book. Myers explains her time in the West Wing and how difficult it was to be a press secretary who did not have all the tools she needed for her job because she was a woman. She went on to explain how woman and men are different whether young or old. And to giving the reader other women's work experience in a male-dominated field. An enjoyable read that I would recommend to any woman and even a man!… (mehr)

I decided to read this book after seeing Ms. Myers speak here at the University a few weeks ago. Her talk was interesting, but rather vague, as many book tour talks seem to be. Much like her talk, I found the book to be a rather unorganized grouping of observations with the occasional *extremely brief* reference to research.I think the book really tries to accomplish too much, and as a result, feels directionless. The author tries to blend her own experiences as Press Secretary for President Clinton, and experiences of other powerful women, with extremely brief summaries (more like references, really) of research that supports the claims she makes--that women's strengths are underappreciated in today's workplace, basically. I think the structure of the book would have worked better if it had been more segregated, allowing her to fully develop each part, or alternatively she could have written two (or three) different books. It was frustrating to have the author continually pique your interest in her experience, only to switch over to one-paragraph summaries of other womens' experiences, punctuated by the occasional one-line reference to a researcher whose work supports what the women are saying. It would have been much more interesting to read all about Myers' experiences, or read all about other womens' experiences ,with substantially more depth, followed by a review of research. The references to research are ridiculous (to the point of being insulting to our intelligence) in their brevity. It would be like saying "Deborah Tannen says women and men communicate differently." Well, no kidding. These fly-by references weren't specific or detailed enough to substantially support any of Myers' points. And I felt like many of them were dumbed down to the point of uselessness. Still, I enjoyed what brief details she shared about her White House experience. Perhaps she is saving the real depth for another book? And I really enjoyed reading about other powerful women. I wanted to read more about them than one simple paragraph.… (mehr)

Why Woman Should Rule the World isn’t just another cliché: rather, in her well-researched social memoir of women, Dee Dee Myers shares what she’s learned about being a woman, both from her experiences as the press secretary to the U.S. President and from a life time of being a woman. While only 10-15% of her book is memoir, the social history Myers shares and the interviews she conducts with other successful women (in politics and otherwise) support Myers’s argument for why women ruling the world could change the world.

I thought, at first, that it would be hard to engage in a social and historical review of women in leadership, but I was pleasantly surprised. Why Woman Should Rule the World was a quick read and an enlightening book that illustrated how women are different than men - and why those differences should be celebrated, not ignored.

More detailed review on my blog… (mehr)